The good news is we’ve seemingly beaten an assault weapons ban, the bad news is they are pushing on magazine limits.
Senate Democratic leaders expect a gun bill to move to the Senate floor that includes most of the proposals backed by President Obama, with the notable exception of a ban on military-style, semiautomatic weapons, reports the Wall Street Journal. A top aide to Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the bill would likely seek to limit the capacity of ammunition magazines; expand background checks to include sales at gun shows and other private transactions; and require better record keeping to keep guns out of the hands of those with mental illnesses. It would also try to curb gun sales in states with more relaxed gun laws to buyers in states with stricter laws.
Absolutely not. Magazine bans are just as out of the realm of discussion as the assault weapons ban. If you have not yet called or written your Senator, please do so. Don’t use the form letters by Ruger and Smith & Wesson. These kinds of forms aren’t as impactful as a personalized message, and aren’t given as much weight. In short, this takes real work. I’ve gotten so many people asking me to blog about these form letters, but there’s a reason I don’t. It’s better than nothing, but if it’s easy, it won’t have as much of an impact. There’s no getting around it. Feel free to take letters you see floating around out there and modify them. I’ve made some here. But take the time to personalize them and send them yourself. E-mail is generally best, but a mailed letter to a district office (not DC) is also impactful. We are not out of the woods by far.
I have talked to my senators but I live in Maryland so they simply do not care what I think.
Hit mine up again for the 3rd or 4th time. Not that it matters all that much, the AL contingent is pretty darn solid…
I had done a form letter earlier today but I just did a personalized one as well.
What if your reps are Boxer, Feinstein, and Pelosi?
You’re pretty much screwed.
“What if your reps are Boxer, feinstein, and Pelosi?” Leave California?
I’m probably repeating myself, but my communications are confined to two or three sentences, e.g., “I oppose all of President Obama’s proposals regarding gun control. I expect you to do the same in the House/Senate.”
I recently received my form reply from squish Sen. Pat Toomey, who in saying nothing at all specific, said “there is some merit in some of President Obama’s proposals.” I replied, quoting that sentence, and saying “That is not acceptable to me. You are going to have difficulty getting reelected in Pennsylvania.”
My theories are that (a) they could not care less why we feel as we do, and (b) any of our fine poetry about why we feel as we do can be used as intelligence to tell them where we are shaky and can be divided. So, tell them you like nothing, and let them parse the meaning of that for themselves. All they are interested in is what will motivate our votes in the next election.
Incidentally, any softness on any issues we express here, can be monitored and used for intelligence too.
That’s what I did. I told them that it isn’t acceptable to me, and that I will not compromise on the 2A; my rights are not up for discussion.
I use the Ruger and S&W form letters, THe way I see it the more the better.
I also use the ILA page to write semi-personalized short, pointed, letters to all of them as well.